I was a bit apprehensive about today’s ride, having missed Thursday morning’s ride while in DC, and in fact I didn’t have anything close to what it takes to keep up with Kevin on Old LaHonda, as he posted an 18-something, about three minutes faster than I could pull off the climb. But I actually felt pretty good, maybe because it was a bit warmer and my lungs definitely prefer warm to cold.

The run to the coast seemed faster than it was; it really seemed like we’d have a Strava PR, but nope, despite burying ourselves into the slight headwind, it was hard, just not as fast as it felt like. Lunch in Pescadero was the usual awesome, but Haskins was the first sign that our legs had limits, Kevin’s in particular. And then West Alpine. As beautiful as ever, but we had to take it pretty easy, plus two stops on the way up, first to shoo a snake out of the road (remember, we stop for snakes), and the second to get the picture of the Flanders flag someone’s flying from a tree on West Alpine.

I mentioned it was warm? Saw just over 80 on West Alpine, cooling off to the mid-70s on Skyline. 68 miles total, and I’ve felt all 68 of them. Which is, of course, a good thing.